The Ride

By Tom Anderson

The Ride is a galactic tale of sex, adventure, and excessive drinking among those who travel the stars.

My novel "The Ride" is a science fiction adventure about a man who makes his living traveling from planet to planet fighting dangerous animals. This is also a story about the women he meets and falls in love with, who don't want a serious relationship with a man who makes his living traveling from planet to planet fighting dangerous animals. The plot could be best described in the man's own words as "The monsters are easy, it's the girls that are dangerous."

The story takes place in a distant future where mankind is one of several star traveling species who have spread throughout the galaxy. Communication across the galaxy is instantaneous, travel between star systems is mostly by scheduled public transport, there are no sexual diseases, no girl ever gets pregnant unless she wants to, and sex is just for fun.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781456603038

Tom Anderson

Tom Anderson was born in Watford and grew up in Porthcawl. He worked as a private investigator for a range of clients after studying at the University of Glamorgan, before developing a travel writing career using journeys taken as a surfer. The Actaeon Tide is his fiction debut.

Book preview

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THE BEGINNING

A sickened and dying Earth had forced Mankind to make its leap for the stars. 10,000 settlement starships sent in 10,000 different directions. Most of the starships came to bad ends. A handful of starships found perfect worlds where civilization flourished. After that, in the words of the other star traveling species, Mankind spread like a plague.

THE AMBASSADOR

Just beyond the edge of the galaxy a wormhole disgorges a single ship. The ship contains a single sentient mind, but is filled with a multitude of spare ceptu hosts for that mind. The mind belongs to an incorporeal being who had no concept of a personal life span. He had no concept of a life’s natural beginning or ending. He had never been a child. He would never grow old. He had lived through the lifespan of millions of ceptu hosts.

He had been chosen to be The Ambassador from The People to the inhabitants of this galaxy. The probes that preceded his ship had shown the only life forms to be mechanical creatures of flesh and bone. They were simple, fragile creatures one and all. Some of them had actually advanced to the point where they could travel between stars. He would meet with them. The People had no interest in these mechanical life forms except as a source of information. Perhaps they had knowledge of another immortal incorporeal race. That was the dream, to find another immortal race that The People could commune with on their long march through eternity.

As The Ambassador passed one of the worlds of the mechanical star traveling creatures he felt a mind he could communicate with. The creature was a female, a mechanical creature that was made to grow replacement mechanical creatures inside itself. The female mechanical creature understood The Ambassador's message and would be waiting for him outside a large...government ...building. A space would be cleared outside the building where his ship could land.

Melissa sat at her desk going through her notes. A Third Level Diplomat with a Grade 2 Empath Rating, Melissa had come here to negotiate between the two mining companies that claimed this world. When Melissa felt the mind probing at the edge of her consciousness she exploded with joy. It was the mind of a new species! Melissa was familiar with the mental touch of every known star traveling species. Melissa contacted the civilian authorities and asked them to contact both mining companies to tell them what was happening. This was no time for someone to do something stupid.

Melissa looked down at her tiny son. Her son was so beautiful. The discovery of a new species was their ticket off this backwater planet. The diplomats on the planet of Market would want to meet this ambassador. Melissa and her son would be his escort to Market. This was the golden ticket to a new life for both of them. Melissa kissed her sleeping son on the forehead and gave him a loving smile. Melissa then turned and hurried out. Melissa wanted to be waiting when The Ambassador's ship landed.

As The Ambassador left his ship the...woman...was waiting outside his ship to escort him into the building. They had barely begun their discussions when a loud continuous noise began to sound. We are being attacked! We must go to the shelter! the woman said. The Ambassador tried to calm her. Surely they have heard my ship broadcasting its peaceful diplomatic mission. They will see the diplomatic markings and not risk damaging my ship.

One of the blasts destroyed The Ambassador’s ship. He could feel the deaths of all his spare Ceptu hosts. Another blast shook the building showering the room with large rocks and broken pieces of metal. A shard of metal almost cut the female mechanical creature in half. Its fluids were leaking onto the floor and the bits of energy in its brain were beginning to fade. The Ambassador's ceptu host was also seriously damaged. Soon it would be useless and all The Ambassador’s spare ceptu hosts were dead. The Ambassador had nowhere to go and he could not survive more than a few moments without a host.

The Ambassador sensed a tiny mechanical creature trapped in the rubble that was not seriously damaged. The life form was at an apex of its adaptive development. The Ambassador could make a place for himself in the...infant's...mind where The Ambassador could survive until The People came to rescue him. As The Ambassador entered the infants mind he knew agony. He could survive here, but the pain would drive him insane. The Ambassador had the ability to put himself in a dreamless trance inside this young mind where he would not notice the pain. He put out two tendrils of energy that could pull him back to consciousness. The first would be activated if he came near a ceptu host so he could leave this thing and get his life back. The second would be activated if this host were attacked. The Ambassador would not willingly leave this host except to go back into a ceptu. The pain was too much. If this host were attacked he would take control of the host and endure the pain long enough to end the danger and then he would go back into the trance. The Ambassador hoped for a continuous...sleep…until he was rescued, but until he was rescued this host must survive. As the pain shimmered around him, The Ambassador forced his consciousness to slip away.

CHAPTER 1

THE MONSTERS

◊My name is Bob Nesslun. I am a Ghoul Hunter. I kill creatures that try to kill me for a living. Anytime a large dangerous animal wanders into an area where modern weapons cannot be used and develops a taste for human flesh, you call me or someone like me to come to your world and deal with the problem. I am the only ghoul hunter who works alone and kills these creatures using only his bare hands.

My first memories are from the Market Sphere university planet of Udell. I grew up on Udell in the care of my Uncle, Professor Nesslun. My Uncle was a huge bear of a man. He was a Grand Professor of mathematics, the highest ranking professor of mathematics on a university planet. Professor Nesslun was also a very successful businessman and was quite wealthy. He was a very important, powerful man. He also preferred the sexual company of other men. The thought that he might be handed a baby and be told it was his responsibility had never entered his wildest dreams. He also had not known that his baby sister had a child.

The Constable explained to him that I had been pulled from the rubble of a public building on a planet ravaged by a war between two mining companies. There were no records, no names, only the tattoo on the bottom of my foot. The tattoo identified my Mother’s name and my Mother’s planet of birth, nothing more. With this information they were able to find my Uncle.

As my only living relative my Uncle could raise me himself, give me to someone else to raise, or simply give me back to the authorities to deal with. To my eternal gratitude he decided to raise me himself. My Uncle told me that when he looked down at me he could see the eyes of his baby sister Melissa. He could no more have given me up than he could have cut off his own hand. Other than their mother, his sister Melissa was the only woman my Uncle had ever felt a bond with.

Eventually I finished my mandatory schooling. I knew I was a disappointment to my Uncle. My grades were always, at best, in the middle of the top third. I never developed the scholarly bent that I would need to become a first line teacher or researcher and although I had the empathic abilities of my mother, I had no desire to go through the necessary training needed to become even a grade two empath.

My Uncle was disappointed, but I didn’t want to settle down on Udell. I wanted to see all the first line planets of The Market Sphere, tour the more interesting worlds of the Baronies of the Sons Of Shonlin, and maybe even a short trip into the Empire of the Lan-Thu itself.

After my graduation from mandatory schooling I was sent to the vocational school on the planet of Thrandon. I seemed to have a knack for the atmosphere regulation equipment used in the deep gloried mines. Gloried mines produce most of the fuels and trace metals which make our civilization possible. I was soon on my way to the mining planet of Nimbus.

THE GLORIDE MONSTERS

Nimbus should have been referred to as an agricultural planet, the majority of the planet’s population worked by growing or processing food. The second largest group was the merchants and service workers who supplied the needs of those farmers and laborers. A relatively small number of citizens worked in the mines, but the mines produced the vast majority of the planet’s wealth. As has always been the case, the people who make the money make the rules and rule the planet.

My first day, at my first job, the mine entrance was a constant flow of miners hauling ore filled carts out and empty carts back in. I had a shiny brand new tool kit on my belt, a satchel with my lunch on my back, and a map showing the location of the atmosphere regulation equipment in my hand.

A man named Eddie was my trainer. He was a short stumpy man with a smile that immediately made you want to like him. He checked my tool kit and highlighted the regulators I would check today. Eddie walked in the mine, then turned and looked at me with a big smile on his face.

As I approached I could feel the sizzle in the air. I was told about the invisible spiderlike webs, but touching my first one was unnerving. I knew the web was just a manifestation of the natural gloride emissions. I knew it wasn't real. I knew it wouldn't hurt me. I knew it would stick to me for only a moment before dissipating. I also knew that every few steps I would break through another one. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it. It was soft and feathery and sticky. Walking through that first web was the bravest thing I had ever done.

No animal that moves under its own power will cross a gloride energy web, only men and gloride monsters will cross them. I looked at my supervisor as I felt the first web dissipate.

You get used to it, he said.

Eddie turned and walked farther into the mine. I followed. The first three boxes I checked needed no work at all. The next box needed one module changed and a gear needed lubrication. The next box needed to be completely rebuilt.

After I was done, Eddie offered to buy me lunch at a nearby lounge. He said the food was passable, but the beer was wonderful. I had packed a lunch, but needed a beer.

The Nimbus mine is one of the largest gloride mines in this sector, 250 levels but only one entrance. Most of the mine workers lived in the mine. Only the surface level ore haulers slept on the surface every day. There were lounges, dormitories, and even a small arena which occasionally had live entertainment. Mostly it was just used for the over-sized viewers.

I was assigned a bunk in one of the dormitories and there was no reason to ever leave the mine. It was usually a brisk two hour walk to the surface from my clock out. From the surface, the public land transport was cheap and efficient. I would happily have gone through twice as much for an hour in the sunshine in one of the local gardens drinking beer and watching the girls walk by. If I could talk one of the pretty local girls into having a beer with me, I felt twice blessed. Occasionally I was thrice blessed and I could talk one of them into sharing more with me than just a beer. On those rare occasions I spent the entire night on the surface. Most nights I spent in my bunk.

Gloride caverns are naturally luminous so lighting is never a problem, but a man misses sunlight. Other than the lack of sunlight and the total absence of green growing things, the most disturbing aspect of working in a gloride mine is the possibility of being killed by a gloride monster. Gloride monsters are huge rock burrowing, flesh eating creatures that are native to gloride formations. The odds of running into one of these creatures are very small. Of the ten million or so working gloride mines in the galaxy only about a thousand a year suffer a gloride monster infestation. Gloride emissions, which only begin in a concentration of gloride ore several miles in diameter, make metal brittle and most electronics impossible. Modern weapons don't work in a gloride mine, so generally when a miner sees a gloride monster; it is the last thing he ever sees.

The weeks went by. The two hour brisk walk became a one hour jog, and the gloride webs, when I noticed them at all, no longer bothered me. I had just finished adjusting a regulator on level fifty five, when an alarm was sounded and I headed for the nearest conference room.

A mining team of five had been cut to pieces and their soft tissue eaten. A croc had invaded the mine. This variety of gloride monster was larger than a ghoul, with more powerful shoulders and a single sharp claw on the end of each arm. The claws of a croc are made for slicing, while the claws of a ghoul are made for tearing and holding.

A ghoul hunter team was being sent for. In the meantime mining would go on. A miner who decided it was too dangerous to work until the croc was killed or captured would not be fired, but that miner would not be paid. Miners who continued to work would receive a hazard bonus, effectively doubling their pay and ceramic blade weapons would be provided.

There also was a bounty placed on killing the croc. The bounty was a little more than I would receive in ten years pay, and I was a very well paid mine employee. Better yet, the planetary government had agreed not to ask for taxes to be paid on the bounty. Employees were encouraged to form teams and hunt the croc in their off duty hours. I decided to continue working, but wanted no part in the croc hunting.

I was sitting in a lounge bar with two other atmosphere technicians. The lounges and the dormitories were safe rooms when the doors were locked. The walls of a safe room are designed so that the claws of a gloride monster cannot smash or cut its way through them. Usually they are made from ceramics reinforced with resins and with similarly made bars covering the doors. The doors to this lounge were locked and barred.

My supervisor said we should keep working. It's a big mine. The chances of running into that croc are pretty small, I said.

We go from place to place. Our chance of running into that croc is much better then a group of miners that works in only one spot, said Ken not looking up from his drink.

Come on Ken, people need to breathe. They need us to keep working.

You do what you want. I'm not leaving the safe room again until that thing is killed. Ask Carl. He saw the bodies, Ken said coldly.

Carl already had much too much to drink and would not speak again ‘til morning. Ken helped Carl to his feet and half carried him out the door that led to the dormitories.

Ken's right you know. You are more likely to run into that croc. That's why we want to come with you on your rounds. I turned to see three large powerfully built men standing behind me.

I'm Johan, this is Andy, and that's Isaac, said the largest of the three.

I'm pleased to meet you. Are you gentlemen ghoul hunters or amateurs looking to make some money? I asked them.

We don't have a ghoul hunter license, but we are hardly amateurs. After we kill this croc we will qualify for a ghoul hunter license. If you let us follow you around we will give you a cut of the reward, said Johan as he tried to determine what kind of man I was.

I let him know. Keep the reward. While you are killing the croc I will run for help, and I do mean run. Is that fair enough? I asked.

Fair enough, Johan replied.

I looked at the timekeeper over the bar and realized that my break was over and it was time for me to go back to work. Would you gentlemen like to come with me now? I asked as I got up.

This is as good a time as any, Isaac said as the three of them followed me out of the bar and past the safe room door and out into the mine.

I was working on an atmosphere regulator when a loud bang from down the corridor caused me to jump up knocking to the floor the device I was working on. Isaac and Johan dashed around the corner towards the noise and Andy stayed with me. Moments later the two hunters came back.

It was just an ore hauler who knocked over an unbalance ore cart, said a clearly disappointed Johan.

I realized I was sweating profusely and was having trouble taking a deep breath. Are you alright? Andy asked me.

I’m alright, I just don’t particularly want to be sliced up and eaten.

You won’t be completely eaten, Isaac said with a laugh, after a croc slices you up they only eat the soft tissue.

Johan gave Isaac a sour look and then looked at me with a gentle smile, We want to kill that croc, but keeping you safe is our first priority. We won’t let you get hurt.

I looked at the three of them standing in front of me. They were a solid wall of confidence. I realized I felt much safer, still… Johan, if something were to happen to me, I have a letter to my Uncle in my vest pocket. I would be very grateful if you would make certain it’s sent to him.

Nothing is going to happen to you while you’re with us. But if the impossible were to happen, I will personally make sure your Uncle gets that letter.

Thank you Johan, thank you all. If something were to happen to the three of you who would you like me to make certain is told?

They all laughed. We’ve hunted creatures far more dangerous than crocs. It’s just that no one will pay you anything worthwhile unless you kill gloride monsters, said Isaac.

I looked at them carefully. Still the impossible can happen.

The three hunters looked at each other for a moment, and then Andy spoke for them all. Our three families lived within a short walk of each other. We grew up together. We spent our school vacations on hunting planets. When we graduated mandatory we decided to become Ghoul Hunters. Our parents forbid us. My mother said she would never sleep again if she found out I had been killed and eaten by a gloride monster. Isaac’s and Johan’s mothers said pretty much the same thing.

When we earn enough money to retire and go back as wealthy men, they’ll take us back, said Isaac.

We had our travel papers and the tattoos on the bottom of our feet altered, Johan said with a determined look on his face. If the impossible happens and we are killed there won’t be any way to tell where we’re from.

If we are killed we would rather our parents spend the rest of their lives believing we are still out in the galaxy hunting and living the life we always wanted, Andy said, again speaking for them all.

We better get back to work, Johan said, breaking the mood. The three hunters spread out forming a distant semi circle around me as I started to reassemble the atmosphere regulator I had dropped.

My potential licensed Ghoul Hunters turned out to be men with incredibly fast reflexes and were well trained with the particularly wicked looking ceramic weapons they carried. I had no doubt that if that gloride monster crossed our path, they would collect that bounty.

In the next week two more groups of miners were killed. One of those groups included another atmosphere technician. He was off duty and looking to earn some extra money. I had many a beer with the man and he had no more skill with weapons than I had. I suspected the others killed were no better. As panic set in, less than half the mining crews were reporting for their shifts. The company had assured everyone that a Ghoul Hunter Team had been hired and was on the way. It didn't help because no one believed them. Ghoul Hunter Teams were just not that easy to come by in the Market Sphere. Even among the miners who did show up, very little work was being done.

Even so, men have to breathe and I was very confident in the ability of the three hunters at my back. The day the croc showed up my three hunters gave out a roar of triumph. They had hunted many a large, vicious animal on the surface with these same weapons. The croc was as good as dead. Their only concern was that they kill the croc before it could get away.

They had the gloride monster cornered in a bend in the tunnel. The croc was about to be pierced by several razor sharp blades and the three hunters were finally going to qualify for their Ghoul Hunter license.

The croc appeared to be slow and shambling, but at the last moment a lightning fast claw knocked aside a spear and with the other claw Isaac’s head went flying. The other two spears slammed into the croc with all the force their owners could manage. They didn't penetrate. The two hunters dropped their spears as they backed away and pulled out a long needle sharp spike attached to a handle like a two handed sword. Again they charged the creature and again they didn't penetrate. A claw came down and shoulder to crotch separated Johan into two pieces. The last hunter turned to run as a claw cut him shoulder to waist. I saw the look in Andy's eyes as his head, left shoulder, and arm, slowly slid from the rest of his body.

The croc locked eyes with mine, screamed, and charged. The hammer, which I had been holding tightly, dropped from my suddenly nerveless hands. I was dead and I knew it. As the gloride monster closed with me something clicked in and my body began to move on its own. It was as if I were on a fun house ride. My body was moving, but I had absolutely no control over my movements.

The Ride was running at the croc as it raised its huge claw to cut me in half. At the last instant as the claw came down The Ride swiveled and the claw only brushed the edge of my shirt. The Ride used the force of the swivel as part of the energy used by the fist of my opposite hand as it slammed into the chest of the croc just at the full extension of my bodies arm, all the force and momentum of my entire body balanced on the one knuckle that perfectly hit the edge of one rib bone.

My fist bounced off, but not before I felt the bone break. The croc swiveled to swing its claw at me again, but The Ride swiveled with it. The claw missed and my body was able to strike the croc again, this time with the butt of the palm of my hand. My body pushed a piece of the broken bone deep into the croc's chest. The Ride used the force of the blow to push me back so my body could roll away and jump to its feet. The croc